Displacement
Displacement is a first-level Order Magic spell that costs two spell points and causes the target to move two yards in a direction of the caster's choice, if possible. Comments Though it may sound like a weak spell, Displacement can be very powerful. For instance, during seige combat, Displacement can be used to knock opposing ranged attackers from castle towers, denying them a damage/defense bonus, or to bring defending ground troops next to castle walls where spellcasters and ranged attackers can hit them. It can be used to move front-line screening creature stacks from in front of important targets, allowing you line-of-sight to the back row with your ranged attackers or spellcasters. This spell can also be used on friendly targets, to augment their movement rate by pushing them towards the fray, or to scoot them out of melee range when it's desirable. It will also ward melee attackers from crowding your ranged units, thus avoiding the melee penalty most ranged attackers suffer when fighting hand-to-hand. In conjunction with spells that decrease movement rates of opposing armies, such as Slow or Fatigue, this versatile spell can be used to push advancing stacks of already slow-moving troops such as Mummies or Ice demons back as much or more than they can move each combat round, essentially holding them in place while your spellcasters and ranged attackers decimate them. The crowning gem on this deceptively simple spell is that it does not require line-of-sight, as even the hidden army succumbs to its gentle touch. Spell Combos * Displacement + Slow and/or Fatigue: Push 'em back, keep 'em there, shoot 'em dead. * Displacement + Hypnotize: When enemy shooters are screened, Hypnotize one of the screening stacks in the center, then use Displacement to push that stack into melee range of two adjacent stacks of shooters, taking them out of the next round. The advantage here is that you don't have to wait until the Hypnotized stack gets a chance to move in order to affect the shooters. Use it when the shooter stack has better speed than the screening stack. * Displacement + Pain Mirror: When fighting stacks that do damage to multiple adjacent stacks, such as Cerberi or Hydras, use Displacement to make sure the Pain Mirrored stack is always within melee range of those enemies. * Displacement + Flight: In siege combat, a flying creature must take a full turn to fly from just outside the wall to just inside the wall. If your creature can't make it all the way to the wall on the first turn, this means three full turns will pass before the creature can be deployed inside the walls. Use Displacement to scoot the creatures that fall just short of the moat all the way against the wall, getting them into play a full turn earlier. * Displacement + Teleport: In siege combat against an army which is sitting on top of all three castle towers, use displacement to knock an enemy creature off one of the towers and teleport a powerful melee creature stack to the vacated tower. * Displacement + Blur: Two first-level spells that taste great together. Blur one stack, then use Displacement to position it to screen another of your stacks from enemy shooters. This saves the screening stack's action that round, or gets it into screening position before it would normally get a chance to move. * Displacement + Berserk: Sometimes you want the Berserked stack to target a specific enemy. Use Displacement to make sure that enemy is positioned closest to the Berserked stack. * Displacement + Blind: During siege combat, the AI will often send units charging out to meet you as you approach the drawbridge. The drawbridge will stay open as long as a stack from the defending army is standing on it. Use Displacement to push a stack onto the open drawbridge, then Blind the unit. Take care not to do this with units that are too big to maneuver around, and you'll get into the castle without having to attack the gate. Advanced Strategies Displacement in Wilderness Combat: Though highly valuable during siege combat, Displacement is often very useful in wilderness combat, especially where terrain objects funnel troops into bottlenecks. Casting Slow and Fatigue on the stack increases the strategy's effectiveness. Note this is most useful and easy to use against large creatures that occupy more of the tactical grid, such as behemoths or dragon golems. Category:Heroes IV spells